Plo says charging pole clients are usually companies, often car dealers. “They get a charging pole either for their own fleet or for their clients’ use. It’s very good for the image of these companies.”

“Most clients just know they want a charging pole,” he says. “The most important thing for them is design, and they usually aren’t aware which poles are on the market,” which means they turn to the contractor for advice.

Plo usually recommends Ensto Chago. “The design is beautiful. Aesthetically, Ensto has a superior product, but also in quality.” Installing an Ensto pole requires only one cable, he notes. “The competitor requires three cables.”

Time is money for electrical contractors and fewer cables means faster installation. It also removes some of the unpredictability that comes with installation.

“Every space is different,” says Plo. “When I’m installing a competitor’s pole in a tight space, it can take significant time to find a place to mount the panel board, which must be installed outside the pole. Ensto’s panel board is inside the pole, meaning it can be installed in a lot more locations.”

Ensto’s great customer service

Plo is also sold on Ensto because of service. “Laurent will answer the phone himself,” says Plo, meaning Ensto Marketing Manager Laurent Prades, who’s been with the company in France for 19 years. “Laurent can answer my technical questions. He’ll even send a technical person out the same day if there are difficulties with installation.”

“Ensto’s competitors are in Paris maybe, I don’t know. Getting information by telephone is not the same kind of relationship. My company is here. Ensto is here. I just have a better relationship with Ensto.”

Plo believes that EVs are the future. He’s followed their development for the past ten years and is encouraged by France’s new subsidies for EV charging pole installation.

And as soon as he’s installed enough poles that charging networks can support him in remote areas contractors often find themselves, “Then,” he says, “I’ll be getting EVs for my business.”